One she-bear had three little bear cubs. Every morning she left them alone in the den and went hunting. The wolf however learnt this and decided to eat the bear cubs while their mother was hunting.
One day he slunk to the bear den and pushed the door. It was locked.
‘Bear cubs, - he shouted – Open the door! I am your mother!’
‘You are not our mother! – the bear cubs answered. – We have seen your paw through the keyhole! Our mother’s fingers are red, and yours are gray!’
The wolf went away. On the other day he found painted his fingers red and knocked on the door of the den again.
‘Bear cubs, - the wolf shouted – open the door! I am your mother! Look at my fingers, they are red!’
‘Yes, but our mother has a brown head and yours is gray! – the bear cubs answered – You are not our mother!’
On the next day the wolf painted his head brown and knocked on the den.
‘Bear cubs, - the wolf shouted – open the door! I am your mother! Look at my head, it is brown!’
‘Yes, but our mother has a white muzzle and yours is gray! – the bear cubs laughed inside – You are the wolf, you are not our mother!’
On the fourth day the wolf found lime and spread it on his muzzle. He went to the bear den and started to shout from the distance:
‘My sweat bear cubs, I am your mother! Open the door because I have brought you a lot of food!’
The bear cubs looked: red fingers, brown head, white muzzle. They believed it was their mother. They opened the door and the cunning wolf ate them.
The she-bear came home in the evening – what to see! The door was open and in the den she found only the bones of the bear cubes. She burst into tears. She was crying, crying… Then she went to find the wolf. She did not know where to find him. She was going around day and night. At the end she asked the fox:
‘Fox, we have not been friends until now. I have always chased you to eat you. But this will change from now on! Tell me, please, how to find the wolf! He ate my three kids!’
‘I will tell you, Bear, - the fox answered – but I am afraid that the wolf will eat me!’
‘Do not be afraid, Fox! – the she-bear calmed her – We are already friends, I will protect you!’
They went together and reached a hole. The wolf was sleeping in. He was still fed up with the bear cubs and did not feel how the fox and the she-bear approached. They jumped over him and tore him to pieces.
‘From now on nobody will eat the children of the wild beasts!’ – she said after this.